ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY

University for People, Nature, Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Unit 3: CRIM PROF 328 Human Behaviour and Victimology

Module 3: Sexual Deviations and Sexual Disorders

Introduction: This chapter specifies the different types of sexual deviations and sexual crimes that basically
affect an individual’s mental state and physical state specially during sexual arousals and intercourse. This will also
inform readers about how and in what extent would these deviations and disorders will change a person’s insight
towards things.

Objectives:
1. Briefly discuss the different types of sexual deviation and sexual disorders
2. Identify the different sexual dysfunctions
3. Understand the Psychological impact of sexual deviations, disorders and dysfunctions

SEXUAL DISORDER OR SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION

Sexual dysfunctions are disorders related to a particular phase of the sexual response cycle. Sexual disorders include
problems of sexual identity, sexual performance, and sexual aim.

Symptoms of Sexual Dysfunction

In Male:
a. Inability to achieve or maintain an erection suitable for intercourse (erectile dysfunction)
b. Absent or delayed ejaculation despite adequate sexual stimulation (retarded ejaculation)
c. Inability to control the timing of ejaculation (early or premature ejaculation)

In Female:
a. Inability to achieve orgasm.
b. Inadequate vaginal lubrication before and during intercourse.
c. Inability to relax the vaginal muscles enough to allow intercourse

In Male and Female:

a. Lack of interest in or desire for sex
b. Inability to become aroused
c. Pain with intercourse

Major Categories of Sexual Disorder

I. Sexual Dysfunctions
II. Paraphilias
III. Gender Identity Disorders

Category I. Sexual Dysfunction

This is a persistent or recurrent problem that causes marked distress and interpersonal difficulty and that may involve
any or some combination of the following: sexual arousal or the pleasure associated with sex, or orgasm. It is a
disturbance in any phase of the Human Sexual Response Cycle.
Types of Sexual Dysfunction

A. Dysfunctions of Sexual Desire (during the Excitement Phase):

1. Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder - It is marked by lack or no sexual drive or interest in sexual activity. It
is characterized by a persistent, upsetting loss of sexual desire.

2. Sexual Aversion Disorder - It is characterized by a desire to avoid genital contact with a sexual partner. It
refers to persistent feelings of fear, anxiety, or disgust about engaging in sex.

B. Dysfunctions of Sexual Arousal (during the Arousal/Plateau Phase):

1. Male Erectile Disorder - It refers to the inability to maintain or achieve an erection (previously called as
impotence).

2. Female Sexual Arousal Disorder - It refers to none responsiveness to erotic stimulation both physically
and emotionally (previously called as frigidity).

C. Dysfunctions of Orgasm (during the Orgasmic Phase):

1. Premature Ejaculation - It is the unsatisfactory brief period between the beginning or sexual stimulation
and the occurrence of ejaculation.

2. Male Orgasmic Disorder - It refers to the inability to ejaculate during sexual intercourse.

3. Female Orgasmic Disorder - It refers to the difficulty in achieving orgasm, either manually or during
sexual intercourse.

D. Sexual Pain Disorders:

1. Vaginismus - It is the involuntary muscle spasm at the entrance to the vagina that prevents penetration
and sexual intercourse.

2 Dyspareunia - It refers to painful coitus that may have either an organic or psychological basis.

E. Hyper Sexuality:

1. Nymphomania (or furor uterinus) - A female psychological disorder characterized by an overactive libido
and an obsession with sex (etymology of the word is nymph).

2. Satyriasis - In males the disorder is called satyriasis and the etymology is satyr.

Category II. Paraphilias

Paraphilia (in Greek para over and philia friendship)

- is a rare mental health disorder term recently used to indicate sexual arousal in response to sexual objects
or situations that are not part of societal normative arousal activity patterns, or which may interfere with the
capacity for reciprocal affectionate sexual activity. The disorder is characterized by a six (6) month period of
recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies or sexual urges involving a specific act, depending on the
paraphilia.

Common Forms of Paraphilia

1. Exhibitionism
This is also known as flashing, behavior by a person that involves the exposure of private parts of his/her
body to another person in a situation when they would not normally be exposed. When the term is used to
refer to the psychological compulsion for such exposure, it may be called Apodysophilia or a Lady Godiva
syndrome.

2. Fetishism
 People with a fetish experience sexual urges and behavior which are associated with non-living objects. For
example, the object of the fetish could be an article of female clothing, like female underwear. Usually the
fetish begins in adolescence and tends to be quite chronic into adult life. Sexual fetishism, first described as
such by Sigmund Freud.

Types of Fetishism
a. Sexual Transvestic Fetishism (Transvestism/Cross Dressing) Transvestic fetishism begins in adolescence,
usually around the onset of puberty. Most practitioners are male who are aroused by wearing, fondling, or
seeing female clothing.

b. Foot Fetishism - It is a pronounced fetishistic sexual interest in human feet. It is also one of the most
common fetishistic interests among humans. A foot fetishist can be sexually aroused by viewing, handling,
licking, tickling, sniffing or kissing the feet and toes of another person, or by having another person doing
the same to his/her own feet.

c. Tickling Fetishism - A sexual fetish related to gaining a specific sexual thrill from either tickling a sex
partner or being subjected to tickling themselves, usually to the point of helpless laughter. Often this
involves some form of restraint to prevent escape and/or accidentally hurting the tickler.

d. Wet and Messy Fetish (WAM) A form of sexual fetishism that has a person getting aroused by substances
applied on the body like mud, shaving foam, custard pudding, chocolate sauce, etc. It could also involve wet
clothes, or any combination of the above.

3. Frotteurism (Frottage)
- Frotteurism is the act of obtaining sexual arousal and gratification by rubbing one's genitals against others
in public places or crowds or sexual urges are related to the touching or rubbing of their body against a
non-consenting, unfamiliar woman.

4. Scatologia
It is also called Coprolalia, deviant sexual practice in which sexual pleasure is obtained through the
compulsive use of obscene language

5. Necrophilia
This is also called thanatophilia and necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses. The word is artificially
derived from Ancient Greek (nekros, corpse, or dead) and (philia; friendship).

6. Coprophilia
Coprophilia (from Greek kópros excrement and filia liking, fondness), also called scatophilia or scat, is the
paraphilia involving sexual pleasure from feces.
7. Zoophilia
Zoophilia is the practice of sex between humans and animals (also known as bestiality/bestosexual). It came
from the Greek (zóion, animal) and (philia, friendship of love), also known as zoosexuality. A person who
practices zoophilia is known as a zoophile.

8. Urophilia (Urolagnia)
Paraphilia of the fetishistic/talismanic type in which arousal and facilitation or attainment of orgasm is
responsive to, and being urinated upon and/or swallowing urine.

9. Mysophilia
Mysophilia is obtaining sexual arousal and gratification by filth or a filthy surrounding. Put simply, this is
getting horny from smelling, chewing or rubbing against dirty underwear (Greek, mysos, uncleanness+
philia).

10. Hypoxyphilia

Hypoxyphilia is the desire to achieve an altered state of consciousness as an enhancement to the experience
of orgasm. In this disorder, the individual may use a drug such as nitrous oxide to produce hypoxia, or a "high" due
to a lack of oxygen to the brain. Autocrotic asphyxiation is also associated with hypotic states, but it is classified as a
form of sexual masochism.
Category III. Gender Identity Disorder (Transsexualism)

Gender Identity Disorder or Gender Dysphoria

- refers to a disturbance of gender identification in which the affected person has an overwhelming desire to
change their anatomic sex or insists that they are of the opposite sex, with persistent discomfort about their
assigned sex or about filling its usual gender role; the disorder may become apparent in childhood or not
appear until adolescence or adulthood. Individuals may attempt to live as members of the opposite sex and
may seek hormonal and surgical treatment to bring their tomy into conformity with their belief.

Category of Sexual Abnormalities

A. Sexual Abnormalities as to the Choice of Sexual Partner:

1. Heterosexual - This refers to a sexual desire towards the opposite sex. This is a normal sexual behavior, socially
and medically acceptable.
2. Homosexual - This refers to a relationship or having a sexual desire towards member(s) of his/her own gender.
The term homosexual can be applied to either a man or woman, but female homosexuals are usually called lesbians.
3. Infantosexual- This refers to a sexual desire towards an immature person such as pedophilia.
4. Bestosexual - This refers to a sexual gratification towards animals. This is similar to bestiality and zoophilia.
5. Autosexual (Self Gratification or Masturbation) - It is a form of "self-abuse" or "solitary vice" carried without the
cooperation of another person or the induction of a state of erection of the genital organs and the achievement of
orgasm by manual or mechanical stimulation.
6. Gerontophilia - This refers to a sexual desire with elder person.
7. Necrophilia - This refers to a sexual perversion characterized by erotic desire or actual sexual intercourse with a
corpse.
8. Incest- This refers to sexual relations between persons who, by reason of blood relationship cannot legally marry.
B. Sexual Abnormalities as to Instinctual Strength of Sexual Urge:

1. Over Sex:
a. Satyriasis - This refers to an excessive sexual desire of men to intercourse. The person is called Satyr.
b. Nymphomania - This refers to the strong sexual feeling of women The person is called Nymph but is
commonly called hot or fighter. Both satyriasis and nymphomania are general expression of compulsive
neurosis.

2. Under Sex:

a. Sexual Anesthesia - This refers to the absence of sexual desire or arousal during sexual act in women.
b. Dyspareunia - It refers to the painful sexual act in women.
c. Vaginismus - It refers to the painful spasm of the vagina during sexual act.

C. Sexual Abnormalities as to Mode of Sexual Expression or Sexual Satisfaction:

1. Oralism - This refers to the use of the mouth as a way of sexual gratification. This includes any of the

following:
a. Fellatio (Irrumation) - The female agent receives the penis of a man into her mouth and by
friction with the lips and tongue coupled with the act sucking the sexual organ.

b. Cunnilingus - The sexual gratification is attained by licking or sucking the external female
genital.
c. Anilism (Anilingus) - It is a form of sexual perversion wherein a person derives excitement by
licking the anus of another person of either sex.

2. Sado-masochism (Algolagnia) - This refers to a painful or cruel act as a factor for gratification.
The example of this is flagellation, it is a sexual deviation associated specifically with the act of
whipping or being whipped.
 a. Sadism (Active Algolagnia) - This refers to a form of sexual perversion in which the infliction of
pain on another is necessary or sometimes the sole factor in sexual enjoyment.

b. Masochism (Passive Algolagnia) - This refers to the attainment of pain and humiliation from the
opposite sex as the primary factor for sexual gratification.

3. Fetishism - It is a form of sexual perversion wherein the real or fantasized presence of an object or bodily
part is necessary for sexual stimulation and/or gratification.

D. Sexual Abnormalities as to the Part of the Body:

1. Sodomy - This refers to a sexual act through anus of another human being

2. Uranism - This refers to the attainment of sexual gratification by fingering fondling with the breast, licking parts of
the body, etc.

3. Frottage (Frotteurism) - It is a form of sexual gratification characterized by the compulsive desire of a person to
rub his sex organ against some parts of the body of another.

4. Partialism - It is a form of sexual deviation wherein a person has special affinity to certain parts of the female
body. Sexual libido may develop in the breast, buttock, foot, legs, etc. of women.

E. Sexual Abnormalities as to Visual Stimulus:

1. Voyeurism - It is a form of sexual perversion characterized by a compulsion to peep to see persons undress or
perform other personal activities. The offender is sometimes called "Peeping Tom". Usually, after peeping, the person
masturbates in excess.

2. Mixoscopia (Scoptophilia) - It refers to a perversion wherein sexual pleasure is attained by watching couple
undress or during their sex intimacies.

F. Sexual Abnormalities as to Number of Sex Partner:

1. Triolism – This is derived from French word trios which mean three. It is a form of sexual perversion in which
three persons are participating in the sexual orgies. The combination may consist of two men and a woman or two
women and a man.

2. Pluralism - It is a form of sexual deviation in which a group of person participates in the sexual orgies. Two or
more couples may perform sexual act in a room and they may even agree to exchange partners for "variety sake"
during "sexual festival".

G. Sexual Abnormalities as to Sexual Reversal:

1. Transvestism - It is a form of deviation wherein a male individual derives pleasure from wearing the female
apparel. This condition is found sometimes in females who desire to dress themselves in male attire. A
female transvestite may imagine that she possesses a penis.

2. Transexualism - The dominant desire in some person to identify themselves with the opposite sex as
completely as possible to discard forever their anatomical sex refers to Transexualism.

3. Intersexuality – It is the condition in which an individual has both male and female anatomical characteristics
to varying degrees or in which the appearance of the external genitalia is ambiguous or differs from that
characteristic of the gonadal or genetic.
 ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY
University for People, Nature, Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Unit 4: CRIM PROF 328 Human Behaviour and Victimology

Module 4: Victimology

Introduction: This unit specifies the rationale of vicitmology and its extent in a study. It also discuss the
relationships between victims and offenders, victims and the criminal justice system, and victims and other social
groups and institutions

Objectives:
1. Briefly discuss the different types of study in victimology
2. Identify the different Theories of victimizations
3. Understand the Psychological impact vicitmization

VICTIMOLOGY

Victimology is the scientific study of the psychological effects of crime and the relationship between victims and
offenders. It examines victim patterns and tendencies; studies how victims interact with the police and the legal
system; and analyzes how factors of class, race, and sexual orientation affect the perception of the victim by
different constituents, including the public, the court system, and the media.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, victimology the study of the ways in which the behavior of crime victims
may have led to or contributed to their victimization.

Victimology is the scientific study of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, victims
and the criminal justice system, and victims and other social groups and institutions, such as the media, businesses,
and social movements. Victimology studies victims of crimes and other forms of human rights violations that are not
necessarily crime.

Victimology encompasses the study of:

a. victimization,
b. victim-offender relationships,
c. victim-criminal justice system
d. victims and the media, relationships,
e. victims and the costs of crime,
f. victims and social movements.

Crime Victim

This generally refers to any person, group, or entity who has suffered injury or loss due to illegal activity. The harm
can be physical, psychological, or economic. Legally, "victim" typically includes the following

a. A person who has suffered direct, or threatened, physical, emotional harm as a result of the commission of a or
pecuniary crime, or

b. In the case of a victim being an institutional entity, any of the same harms by an individual or authorized
representative of another entity.
History of Victimology

The scientific study of victimology can be traced back to the 1940s and 1950s. Two criminologists, Mendelsohn and
Hans Von Hentig, began to explore the field of victimology by creating typologies. They are considered the fathers of
the study of victimology. Mendelsohn was the first to coin the term Victimology in 1940. These new "victimologists"
began to study the behaviors and vulnerabilities of victims, such as the resistance of rape victims and characteristics
of the types of people who were victims of crime, especially murder victims.

Typology of victim by Mendelsohn

• The innocent - portrayed as just being in the wrong place at the wrong time
• Those who contributed somehow to their own injury

Types of victims by Hans Von

• Depressive type who is an easy target, careless and unsuspecting.
• The greedy type is easily duped because his or her motivation for easy gain lowers his or her natural
tendency to be suspicious.
• The wanton type is particularly vulnerable to stresses that occur in a given period of time in the life cycle,
such as juvenile victims.
• The tormentor, is the victim of an attack from the target of his or her abuse, such as with battered women.

Victimology and Criminology

Victimology focuses on helping victims heal after a crime, while criminology aims to understand the criminal's motives
and the underlying causes of crime.

Criminologists "look at every conceivable aspect of deviant behavior. This includes the impacts of crime on individual
victims and their families, society at large and even criminals themselves.
Criminologists study elements like the frequency, location, causes and types of crime, then work to develop "effective
and humane means of preventing it.

Victimologists are concerned with fostering recovery, while criminologists seek prevention. Criminologists seek to
understand the social impact of crime.

Theories of Victimization

First Generation: Early Victimologists

First-generation scholarly work in victimology proposed victim typologies based on the offender-victim dyad in a
criminal act.

1. Hans Von Hentig - German criminologist developed a typology of victims based on the degree to which victims
contributed to causing the criminal act. Examining the psychological, social, and biological dynamics of the situation,
he classified victims depending on their propensity or risk for victimization which includes:
• young,
• female,
• old,
• Immigrants,
• depressed,
• wanton,
• tormentor,
• blocked,
• exempted,
• fighting
His notion that victims contributed to their victimization through their actions and behaviors led to the development
of the concept of "victim-blaming" and is seen by many victim advocates as an attempt to assign equal culpability to
the victim.
2. Benjamin Mendelsohn has often been referred to as the "father" of victimology. Intrigued by the dynamics that
take place between victims and offenders, he surveyed both parties during the course of preparing a case for trial.
Using these data, he developed a typology of victims based on legal considerations of the degree of a victim's
culpability. This classification ranged from the completely innocent victim (eg, a child or a completely unconscious
person) to the imaginary victim (eg. persons suffering from mental disorders who believe they we victims).

3. Marvin E. Wolfgang - The first empirical evidence to support the notion that victims who are to some degree
responsible for their own victimization. He reported that 26% of homicides resulted from victim precipitation
Wolfgang identified three factors common to victim-precipitated homicides:
• The victim and offender had some prior interpersonal relationship
• There was a series of escalating disagreements between the parties, and
• The victim had consumed alcohol.

4. Stephen Schafer classifies victims on the basis of their "functional responsibility”. Victims' dual role was to function
so that they did not provoke others to harm them while also preventing such acts.

5. Menachem Amir undertook one of the first studies of rape. On the basis of the details in the Philadelphia police
rape records, Amir reported that 19% of all forcible rapes were victim precipitated by such factors as the use of
alcohol by both parties; seductive actions by the victim; and the victim's wearing of revealing clothing, which could
tantalize the offender to the point misreading the victim's behavior. His work was criticized by the victim's movement
and the feminist movement as blaming the victim.

B. Second Generation: Theories of Victimization

The second generation of theorists shifted attention from the role of the victim toward an emphasis on a situational
approach that focuses on explaining and testing how lifestyles and routine activities of everyday life create
opportunities for victimization. The emergence of these two theoretical perspectives is one of the most significant
developments in the field of victimology.

1. Lifestyle Exposure Theory

Using data from the 1972-1974 NCS, Hindelang, Gonfredson and Garofalo noticed that certain groups of
people, namely, young people and males, were more likely to be criminally victimized. They theorized that an
individual's demographics such as age and sex tended to influence one's lifestyle, which in turn increased his or her
exposure to risk of personal and property victimization. For instance, according to them, one's sex carries with it
certain role expectations and societal constraints; it is how the individual reacts to these influences that determine
one's lifestyle. If females spend more time at home, they would be exposed to fewer risky situations involving
strangers and hence experience fewer stranger-committed victimization.
Using the principle of homogamy, Hindelang et al. also argued that lifestyles that expose people to a large
share of would-be offenders increase one's risk of being victimized. Homogamy would explain why young persons are
more likely to be victimized than older people, because the young are more likely to hang out with other youth, who
commit a disproportionate amount of violent and property crimes.

2. Routine Activities Theory

Cohen and Felson formulated routine activities theory to explain changes in aggregate direct-contact
predatory (e.g. murder, forcible rape, burglary) crime rates in the United States from 1947 through 1974. Routine
activities theory posits that the convergence in time and space of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the
absence of a capable guardian provide an opportunity for crimes to occur.
The absence of any one of these conditions is sufficient to drastically reduce the risk of criminal opportunity,
if not prevent it altogether.
Routine activities theory does not attempt to explain participation in crime but instead focuses on how opportunities
for crimes are related to the nature of patterns of routine social interaction including one's work, family, and leisure
activities. So, for example, someone spends time in public places such as bars or hanging out on if the streets, he or
she increases the likelihood of coming into contact with a motivated offender in the absence of a capable guardian.
The supply of motivated offenders is taken as a given. What varies is the supply of suitable targets (e.g., lightweight,
easy-to-conceal property, such as cell phones and DVD players, or drunken individuals) and capable guardians (e.g.,
neighbors, police, and alarms).
3. Empirical Support Researchers commonly have used lifestyle exposure and routine activity theories to test
hypotheses about how individuals' daily routines expose them to victimization risk. These theories have been applied
principally to examine opportunities for different types of personal and property victimizations using diverse samples
that range from school-age children, to college students, to adults in the general population across the United States
and abroad. The data are generally supportive of the theories, although not all studies fully support the theories.

C. Third Generation: Refinement and Empirical Tests of Opportunity Theories of Victimization

Researchers' continued testing of lifestyle exposure and routine activity theories has generated supportive
findings and critical thinking that has led to a refining and extension of them. Miethe and Meier developed an
integrated theory of victimization, called structural-choice theory, which attempts to explain both offender motivation
and the opportunities for victimization.
This further refinement of opportunity theories of victimization was an important contribution to the
victimology literature. One of the first studies of opportunity theories for predatory crimes was conducted by
Sampson and Wooldredge, who used data from the 1982 British Crime Survey (BCS). Their findings showed that
individual and household characteristics were significant predictors of victimization, as were neighborhood-level
characteristics. For example, although age of the head of the household was an important indicator of burglary, the
percentage unemployed persons in the area also predicted burglary.
Victimization theories have been expanded to examine non-predatory crimes and "victimless" crimes, such
as gambling and prostitution, and deviant behavior such as heavy alcohol use and dangerous drinking in young
adults. The theories have also been applied to a wide range of crimes in different social contexts, such as school-
based victimization in secondary schools, stalking among college students, and even explanations of the link between
victimization and offending. Other scholars have examined how opportunity for victimization is linked to social
contexts and different types of locations, such as the workplace, neighborhoods, and college campuses.

D. Fourth Generation: Moving Beyond Opportunity Theories

Work by Schreck and his colleagues suggests that antecedents to opportunity, such as low self-control, social bonds,
and peer influences, have also been found to be important predictors of violent and property victimization.
Generations of Victimization

Over the years, ideas about victim precipitation have come to be perceived as a negative thing: victim blaming it is
called. Research into ways in which victims "contribute to their own victimization is considered by victims and victim
advocates as both unacceptable and destructive.

1. Luckenbill's (1977) Situated Transaction Model

This claims the idea that interpersonal level, crime and victimization is a contest of character.

2. Benjamin & Master's Threefold Model

The idea is that conditions that support crime can be into three general categories:
a. Precipitating Factors - time, space, being in the wrong place at the wrong time;
b. Attracting Factors-choices, options, lifestyles (the sociologic expression "lifestyle" refers to daily routine
activities as well a special events one engages in on a predictable basis).
c. Predisposing Factors - all the socio-demographic characteristics of victims, being male, being young,
being poor, being a minority, living in squalor, being single, being unemployed.

3. Lawrence Cohen & Marcus Felson's (1979) Routine Activities Theory

This one is quite popular among victimologists today who are anxious to test the theory. Briefly, it says that crime
occurs whenever three conditions come together
a. Suitable Targets - and we'll always have suitable targets as long as we have poverty.
b. Motivated Offenders - and we'll always have motivated offenders since victimology, unlike deterministic
criminology, assume anyone will try to get away with something if they can.
c. Absence of Guardians - the problem is that there are few defensible spaces (natural surveillance areas)
and in the absence of private security, the government can't do the job alone,.

4. Victim Precipitation
This theory was first promulgated by Von He 1941 and applies only to violent victimization. Its basic premise
is that by acting in certain provocative ways, some individuals initiate a chain event that lead to their victimization.
Also, this theory suggests that some people may actually initiate confrontation that eventually leads to their injury or
death Victim precipitation can be either Active or Passive
 a. Active Precipitation - It occurs when victims act provocatively, use threats or fighting words, or even
attack first.
b. Passive Precipitation It occurs when the victims exhibits some personal characteristic that unknowingly
either threatens or encourages the attacker. The crime can occur because of personal conflict. This may
also occur when the victim belongs to a group whose mere presence threatens the attacker's reputation,
status, or economic well-being.

5. Lifestyle Theory
Some criminologists believe people may become crime victims because their lifestyle increases their
exposure to criminal offenders. Victimization risk is increased by such behaviors as associating with young men,
going out in public places late at night, and living in an urban area. Conversely, one's chances of victimization can be
reduced by staying home at night, moving to a rural area, staying out in public places, earning more money, and
getting married. The basis of this theory is that crime is not a random occurrence but rather a function of victim's
lifestyle.

6. Deviant Place Theory

According to deviant place theory, victims do not encourage crime but are victim prone because they reside
in socially disorganized high-crime areas where they have the greatest risk of coming into contact with criminal
offenders, irrespective of their own behavior or lifestyle. Deviant places are poor, densely populated, highly transient
neighborhoods in which commercial and residential property exist side by side.
 ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY
University for People, Nature, Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Unit 5: CRIM PROF 328 Human Behaviour and Victimology

Module 4: Victim and Victimization

Introduction: This chapter specifies the different typs and ways of victimization and basically it shows the extent
of their exposure from being victimized of such events.

Objectives:
1. Briefly discuss the different types of victims
2. Identify the different victimization
3. Understand the Psychological impact of trauma in victimization

VICTIM AND VICTIMIZATION

Victims

Victims, in general, means persons who, by reason of natural disaster or man-made cause, individually or collectively,
have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment
of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws operative within member
states, including those laws proscribing criminal abuse of power.

Victim, in the country, refers to a person who sustains injury or damage as a result of the commission of a crime.

Victims of crime may be any gender, age, race, or ethnicity. Victimization may happen to an individual, family, group,
or community, and a crime itself may be to a person or property. The impact of crime on an individual victim, their
loved ones, and their community depends on a variety of factors, but often crime victimization has significant
emotional, psychological, physical, financial, and social consequences.
Mendelsohn's Types of Victim Mendelsohn

1. Innocent - Portrayed as just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

2. Victim with only minor guilt and was victimized due to ignorance.

3. Victim who is just as guilty as the offender and the voluntary victim. Suicide case is common to this category.

4. The victim guiltier than the offender this category was described as containing persons who provoked the criminal
or actively induced their own victimization.
5. The Most-Guilty Victim "who is guilty alone". Example, an attacker killed by a would-be victim in the act of
defending themselves.

6. The Imaginary Victim - A victim suffering from mental disorders, or those victims with extreme mental
abnormalities.

Hans Von Hentig's Taxonomy of Murder Victims

1. Depressive Type - A victim who lacks ordinary prudence and discretion. It is an easy target, careless and
unsuspecting. They are submissive by virtue of emotional condition.

2. Greedy of Gain or Acquisitive Type - A victim who lacks all normal inhibitions and well-founded suspicions. This
victim is easily duped because his or her motivation for easy gain lowers his or her natural tendency to be suspicious.

3. Wanton or Overly Sensual Type - A victim where "females foibles play a role. This victim is particularly vulnerable
to stresses that occur at a given period of time in the life cycle, such as juvenile victims. Further, this victim is ruled
by passion and thoughtlessly seeking pleasure.

4. Tormentor Type - The victim of attack from the target of his or her abuse, such as with battered women. The
most primitive way of solving a personal conflict is to annihilate physically the cause of the trouble.

5. Lonesome Type - This is the same with the acquisitive type of victim, by virtue of wanting companionship or
affection.

6. Heartbroken Type - This victim is emotionally disturbed by virtue of heartaches and pains.

Von Hentig's Classes of Victim

1. The Young - The Young is weak by virtue of age and immaturity

2. The Female Female is physically less powerful and is easily dominated by male.
3. The Old-The Old is incapable of physical defense and the common object of illegal scheme.
4. The Mentally Defective - Mentally Defective person is unable to think clearly.
5. The Immigrant - Immigrant is unsure of the rules of conduct in the surrounding society.
6. The Minorities - Racial prejudice may lead to victimization or unequal treatment by the agency of justice.

Effects and Consequences of Victimization

A. Physical Consequences
The physical consequences of victimization are often visible and range in seriousness from bruises and
scrapes, to broken bones, to fatal injuries. Other, less foreseeable injuries, such as the threat of sexually transmitted
diseases, can also be the result of a victimization incident. Forensic evidence collection can detect physical injury and
other useful evidence to support the claim of a crime. For example, a specially trained medical nurse can perform
sexual assault forensic examination and document vaginal-anal and oral injury from an alleged rape victim.

B. Psychological/Emotional and Mental Consequences

Emotional, psychological, and mental consequences of victimization may be less externally obvious but are
just as serious as physical injury. Stress, depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders are but a few that crime
victims’ experience. There are distinct mental stages that follow a victimization incident. At first, victims feel shock
and fear, and perhaps retreat from society, after this initial feeling of shock begins to subside, victims experience a
range of emotions as they begin to readapt to their lives; finally, but with the consequences that victimization carries,
victims attempt to reconcile and find a balance to allow them to pick up with their lives and routines where they left
off. Persistent mental consequences such as acute stress disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance
dependency, can occur.

C. Financial Consequences
The monetary costs of victimization to the victim are at times easy to calculate and at other times
impossible to measure. Medical expenses, property losses, lost wages and legal costs are financial consequences that
victims and their families must bear. Losses to the victim that are not as easy to estimate a dollar value for, but are
nevertheless salient, are pain and suffering, and fear, among others. There are also financial consequences of
victimization that society must bear, it includes:

1. victim services,
2. witness assistance programs,
3. costs to the criminal justice system, and
4. negative public opinion
Trauma in Victimization

A. Primary Injuries
1. Physical Trauma - Crime victims may experience physical trauma serious injury or shock to the body, as from a
major accident. Victims may have cuts, bruises, fractured arms or legs, or internal injuries.

2. Intense Stress Reactions - Victims breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate may increase, and their muscles may
tighten. They may feel exhausted but unable to sleep, and they may have headaches, increased or decreased
appetites, or digestive problems.

3. Emotional Trauma - Victims may experience emotional trauma emotional wounds or shocks that may have long-
lasting effects.

B. Secondary Injuries
This happens when victims do not receive the support and help they need after the crime. Victims may be
hurt by lack of understanding from friends, family, and the professionals they come into contact with particularly if
others seem to blame the victim for the crime (suggesting they should have been able to prevent or avoid it). Police,
prosecutors, judges, social service providers, the media, coroners, and even clergy and mental health professionals
may contribute to such secondary injuries

C. Common Injuries
It includes bruises, cuts, scrapes, broken bones, sexually transmitted diseases, and a wide range of internal
injuries. Also, physical reactions (such as rapid heart rate and breathing, increased blood pressure, nausea or
sleeplessness) to the emotional wounds caused by the crime.

Stages of Trauma Recovery

Stage 1: Silence
People who experience adverse situations, such as a traumatic event involving actual or threatened danger,
face incredible challenges. The initial stage following a traumatic event is often a time of silence for the victim. It's
common for recently victimized people to refuse to talk about what happened. This may be due to a number of
things, including stigma, isolation, shame, guilt, confusion, or denial about the event. A person emerging from
trauma may have low self-esteem at first and may feel overwhelmed and disconnected from the rest of the world.

Stage 2: Victimhood

Eventually, the traumatized self may start to long for change as the on-going suffering interferes with daily
life tasks and a need to grow and recover begins to form. As this need grows, it allows the person to begin exploring
ways to move through the trauma. According to available research, there is often a tug-of-war taking place within
the individual between a need to be safe and protect emotions and a need to grow and confront the traumatic
memories.
The person may feel compelled to talk openly with everyone about what happened and the suffering he or
she experienced. Some people will likely be more willing than others to listen. For people working their way through
the stage of victimization, having someone to listen and support them as they process the event can be critical to
their ability to move forward into survivor hood. Many people find support groups helpful during this stage and may
seek counselling or other support.

Stage 3: Survivorhood

Once a person processes the traumatic event and continues transitioning away from the victim experience,
he or she often begins identifying as a survivor. During this stage, a person has had an opportunity to talk about his
or her experience and has gained some sense of clarity. He or she may begin to identify the ways in which he/she
persevered and the strengths that helped make moving forward possible. The person hasn't forgotten the event, but
he or she has a greater understanding about what the event means and the impact it has made on his or her life.

Stage 4: Thriving and Transcendence

 At this stage, victims feel like they are managing challenges better and have a greater awareness about
themselves and their experiences. Other victim hasn't forgotten the event, but he or she has a greater understanding
about what the event means and the impact it has made on his or her life.

Models of Victimization

1. Victim of Crime Model (Man-made Cause)

This model of victimization is applicable to victims of man-made causes like homicide, rape and others. The stages
are as follows:

a. Stage of Impact and Disorganization - This depicts the attitude or activity of the victim during and
immediately following the criminal event.

b. Stage of Recoil - This stage occurs during which the victim formulates psychological defenses and deals
with conflicting emotions of guilt, anger, acceptance and desire of revenge (this could last 3 to 8 months).
c. Reorganization Stage - This stage occurs during which the victim puts his/her life back to normal daily
living.

2. Victim of Disaster Model (Natural Cause)

This model of victimization is applicable to victims of natural causes like earthquake, flood, volcanic eruption
and others. The stages are as follows:

a. Pre-impact Stage - This describes the state of the victim prior to being victimized.
b. Impact Stage - This stage is the phase in which victimization occurs.
c. Post-impact Stage This stage entails the degree and duration of the personal and social disorganization
following victimization.
d. Behavioral Outcome - This phase describes the victim's adjustment to the victimization experience.

Kinds of Crime Victim

1. Direct or Primary Crime Victim – Person directly suffers the harm or injury which is physical,
psychological, and economic losses.

2. Indirect or Secondary Crime Victim - Victims who experience the harm second hand, such as intimate
partners or significant others of rape victims or children of a battered woman. This may include family
members of the primary victims. Likewise, included here are the first responders and rescue workers who
race to crime scenes (such as police officers, forensic evidence technicians, paramedics, fire-fighters and the
like) as secondary victims because they are also exposed to emergencies and trauma on such a routine
basis and that they also need emotional support themselves.

3. Tertiary Crime Victim - Victims who experience the harm vicariously, such as through media accounts, the
scared public or community due to watching news regarding crime incidents.

Victim Impact Panel

This is a form of community-based or restorative justice in which the crime victims (or relatives and friends
of deceased crime victims) meet with the defendant after conviction to tell the convict about how the criminal activity
affected them, in the hope of rehabilitation or deterrence. Victim impact statements are written or oral information
from crime victims, in their own words, about how a crime has affected them.
Around 50 states in the world allow victim impact statements at some phase of the sentencing process.
Most states permit them at parole hearings, and victim impact information is generally included in the pre-sentencing
report presented to the judge.

The Purpose of Victim Impact Statements

 This is to allow crime victims, during the decision-making process on sentencing or parole, to describe to the
court or parole board the impact of the crime. A judge may use information from these statements to help determine
an offender's sentence; a parole board may use such information to help decide whether to grant a parole and what
conditions to impose in releasing an offender.
Victim impact statements may provide information about damage to victims that would otherwise have been
unavailable to courts or parole boards. Victims are often not called to testify in court, and if they testify, they must
respond to narrow, specific questions. Victim impact statements are often the victims' only opportunity to participate
in the criminal justice process or to confront the offenders who have harmed them. Many victims report that making
such statements improves their satisfaction with the criminal justice process and helps them recover from the crime.

Contents of Victim Impact Statements

1. Physical damage caused by the crime.

2. Emotional damage caused by the crime.
3. Financial costs to the victim from the crime.
4. Medical or psychological treatments required by the victim or his or her family.
5. The need for restitution (court-ordered funds that the offender pays the victim for crime-related expenses).
6. The victim's views on the crime or the offender (in some states).
7. The victim's views on an appropriate sentence (in some states).

RESPONSE OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

In order to determine whether a mentally disordered offender should be sent to a psychiatric hospital or to
prison, he is examined to assess if he meets the law's rationality standard in the context in question. This requires
him to proof either that he did not know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or that he did not know that
what he was doing was wrong (McNaughton Rule). Offenders who satisfy these criteria are neither criminally
responsible nor competent to stand trial because they are not rational.

What happens to those mentally disordered offenders who, having been declared mentally fit to face
charges, end up in prison? According to some studies, longer periods of incarceration may lead to more mental
health symptoms. If they are left untreated, the offender may display an increasing disruptive, noncompliant, and
aggressive behavior in reaction to the stressful life in prison.

This misbehavior can result in solitary confinement, which has been found to exacerbate symptoms of
mental disorder. Furthermore, it prevents them from participating in programs that would earn them good time
credits, thus limiting their options for early release.
Despite the availability of mental health services in prison, many inmates remain reluctant to access them for several
reasons:

a. self-preservation concerns, which include issues of confidentiality and negative perceptions from other
inmates (seen as weak or a snitch);

b. procedural concerns, that is, a lack of knowing how, when, and why to access services and anticipated
length of services;

c. self-reliance, which refers to a reliance on themselves or close others for help; and

d. professional service provider concerns, which relate to questions of staff qualifications and dissatisfaction
with previous mental health services.
RIGHT OF VICTIMS

The Victims' Rights

All states and the federal government have passed laws to establish a set of victims' rights. In general,
these laws require that victims have certain information, protections, and a limited role in the criminal justice
process. Victims' rights depend on the laws of the jurisdiction where the crime is investigated and prosecuted: state,
federal or tribal government, or military installation.
In some states, victims' rights apply only to victims of felonies (more serious crimes) while other states also
grant legal rights to victims of misdemeanors (less serious crimes). Some states allow a family member of a homicide
victim or the parent or guardian of a minor, incompetent person, or person with a disability to exercise these rights
on behalf of the victims.

Overview of Victims' Rights

1. Right to be treated with Dignity, Respect, and Sensitivity

Victims generally have the right to be treated with courtesy, fairness, and care by law enforcement and other officials
throughout the entire criminal justice process. This right is included in the constitutions of most states that have
victims' rights amendments and in the statutes of more than half the states.

2. Right to be informed

The purpose of this right is to make sure that victims have the information they need to exercise their rights and to
seek services and resources that are available to them. Victims generally have the right to receive information about
victims' rights, victim compensation, available services and resources, how to contact criminal justice officials, and
what to expect in the criminal justice system. Victims also usually have the right to receive notification of important
events in their cases. Although state laws vary, most states require that victims receive notice of the following
events:
• the arrest of the offender
• bail proceedings
• arraignment
• pre-trial proceedings
• dismissal of charges
• plea negotiations
• trial
• sentencing
• appeals
• probation or parole hearings
• release or escape of the offender

3. Right to Protection
In many states, victims have the right to protection from threats, intimidation, or retaliation during criminal
proceedings. Depending on the jurisdiction, victims may receive the following types of protection witness protection
programs restraining orders. Some states also have laws to protect the employment of victims who are attending
criminal proceedings.

4. Right to apply for compensation

All states provide crime victim compensation to reimburse victims of violent crime for some of the out-of-pocket
expenses that resulted from the crime. The purpose of compensation is to recognize victims’ financial losses and to
help them recover some of these costs. All states have a cap on the total compensation award for each crime, and
not all crime-related expenses are covered.

5. Right to restitution from the offender

In many states, victims of crime have the right to restitution, which means the offender must pay to repair some of
the damage that resulted from the crime. The purpose of this right is to hold offenders directly responsible to victims
for the financial harm they caused. The court orders the offender to pay a specific amount of restitution either in a
lump sum or a series of payments.
6. Right to prompt return of personal property
Investigators must often seize some of the victim's property as evidence for a criminal case. In most states,
authorities must return such property to the victim when it is no longer needed. To speed up the return of property,
some states allow law enforcement to use photographs of the item, rather than the item itself, as evidence. The
prompt return of personal property reduces inconvenience to victims and helps restore their sense of security.

7. Right to a Speedy Trial

8. Right to enforcement of victims' rights

To be meaningful, legal rights must be enforced. States are beginning to pass laws to enforce victims' rights, and
several states have created offices to receive and investigate reports of violations of victims' rights. Other states have
laws that permit victims to assert their rights in court.

United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power

A. Access to Justice and Fair Treatment

Victims should be treated with compassion and respect for their dignity. They are entitled to access to the
mechanisms of justice and to prompt redress, as provided for by national legislation, for the harm that they have
suffered.

B. Restitution
Offenders or third parties responsible for their behavior should, where appropriate, make fair restitution to
victims, their families or dependents. Such restitution should include the return of property or payment for the harm
or loss suffered, reimbursement of expenses incurred as a result of the victimization, the provision of services and
the restoration of rights.

C. Compensation
When compensation is not fully available from the offender or other sources, States should endeavor to
provide financial.

D. Assistance
Victims should receive the necessary material, medical, psychological and social assistance through
governmental, voluntary, community-based and indigenous means.

The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines

Bill of Rights - Article III Section

1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied
the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable
searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable, and no search warrant or warrant
of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge after examination under
oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be
searched and the persons or things to be seized

Section 3.

1. The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be inviolable except upon lawful order of the court, or
when public safety or order requires otherwise, as prescribed by law.

2. Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any
proceeding.

Section 11. Free access to the courts and quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal assistance shall not be denied to
any person by reason of poverty.
Section 12.

1) Any person under investigation for the commission of an offense shall have the night to be informed of his right to
remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel preferably of his own choice. If the person cannot
afford the services of counsel, he must be provided with one. These rights cannot be waived except in writing and in
the presence of counsel.

2) No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means which vitiate the free will shall be used against
him. Secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado, or other similar forms of detention are prohibited.

3) Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this or Section 17 hereof shall be inadmissible in evidence
against him.

4) The law shall provide for penal and civil sanctions for violations of this section as well as compensation to and
rehabilitation of victims of torture or similar practices, and their families.